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Yesterday I spent the day at Olympia for Vegfest London 2015. As usual, I had a fab time. This time my tactic was to go round all of the stalls first, taste things, speak to people, but not spend any money. Then I had a cheeky half pint of cider and watched a couple of cookery demos (during which I tried some amazing raw lime cheesecake). I spent the last hour or so revisiting all of the stalls I was interested in and shopped my socks off. This meant that not only was I not lugging around heavy stuff all day, but it helped me make more rational shopping decisions. I’m being slightly frugal at the moment, partly because I’m getting a cat soon (and more on that another day), partly because I’m just about to start learning to drive – neither of which are particularly cheap. So here they are, all of my VegfestUK London 2015 purchases (click on the pictures for a slideshow and product descriptions):

Discovery of the day! Tofurky, where have you been all my life? I got two kinds of sausages, and some smoked ham style sandwich slices. Highly recommended if you can get your hands on some.

A postcard from Vegan Sidekick.

18 assorted Nakd bars. We’re both addicted to these, so this box won’t last long.

A goody bag from Vegan Tuck Box.

Coconut pecks from Inspiral. I’d had the smokin’ flavour before, in a box from The Vegan Kind. They also had raspberry flavour, which sound just as weird but are just as tasty.

Mmmm, three different mini bars of Moo Free chocolate: orange, mint, and bunnycomb.

A couple of packs of ready-cooked quinoa and vegetables. I got the kids size because it’s just the right amount as a side dish for one person – perfect for when I’m home alone.

A cheeky half of cider from Pitfield’s vegan brewery.

Oh my goodness, this Follow Your Heart grated cheddar is incredible. They were serving samples of cheese toasties and they were so good, you could serve one to a non-vegan and they wouldn’t notice. For real.

A brand-new roast from Fry’s. They didn’t have any tasters of this but as I love love LOVE most Fry’s products I’m confident it will be tasty.

Links:

Tofurky (note, they’re new to the UK, so not all products on their website are available here)

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Whenever I post a recipe for something less healthy, I usually feel the need to include a disclaimer about my diet normally involving vibrant, healthy, whole foods. Well not today! Yesterday was the second annual International Vegan Junk Food Day, an in its honour here is my unapologetically unhealthy sausage roll recipe.

Sausage rolls were the first thing I ever cooked for Mr Veg, so they hold a particularly special place in my heart. Delicious food and with no animals harmed, I think that’s a pretty good start to a new relationship.

It is entirely serendipitous that one sheet of puff pastry is exactly the right amount for one packet of sausage mix. It’s like the universe wants it to happen. If you wanted to make sausage rolls from other ingredients, roughly equal weights of pastry and filling would normally be a good place to start.

Make up the sausage mix according to the packet instructions. I like to jazz it up with extra herbs and spices, but this is optional.

Unroll the pastry sheet. Leaving it on the backing paper for now, and cut it in half lengthwise.

Spread half of the sausage mix lengthwise along the middle third of each pastry rectangle. This is the only slightly fiddly bit, I find it easiest to put small spoonfuls of the mixture along the pastry, and then spread it out with my fingers.

Brush a small amount of non-dairy milk along one of the edges of the pastry; this will help the pastry stick together.

Carefully take the edge of the pastry that you didn’t brush with milk, and fold it over the sausage mix.

Continue rolling, so the edge you rolled onto the sausage mix now goes onto the edge you brushed with milk. This double layer of pastry (the seam) should stay underneath.

Using a sharp knife, cut the rolls to your preferred size.

Keeping the seam underneath, transfer the sausage rolls from the backing paper to the greased baking sheet. Prick each sausage roll with a fork to allow any steam to escape.

To help the sausage rolls brown, brush each one lightly with more non-dairy milk.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and golden. Enjoy hot or cold.

I can’t claim that there’s anything groundbreaking about my pesto recipe. It’s just the list of ingredients that I have stuck to my fridge that I tweaked a few times until I was happy with it. I’ve wanted to post the recipe for quite a while now to show how versatile it can be if you mix it up a little bit. Fresh herbs can be quite expensive unless you grow your own or find them in the reduced section, as can pine nuts. It’s really easy to switch out the ingredients for other things to suit your meal or your budget.

In case you can’t read my writing, here’s the recipe (makes a generous amount for two):

One clove of garlic, mashed to a fine paste with a pinch of salt (don’t rely on your food processor to do this for you, pesto is best a bit chunky, and chunky raw garlic is not particularly pleasant)

40g leaves

20g nuts/seeds/legumes

Half a tablespoon lemon juice

Another pinch of salt and plenty of pepper

Two tablespoons of oil

One tablespoon (or more) of nooch

First, put just the nuts (or whatever you’re using) in the food processor on their own and pulse a couple of times to get them started.

Then add the rest of the ingredients…

… and pulse a few more times until it’s just blended (i.e. not a purée).

Here are a few examples. First, the pea-sto mark 2 – peas, a 50:50 mix of mint and basil, and olive oil:

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On Saturday 28 March I took my favourite vegetarian boots to Brighton for the latest VegfestUK event. I love the sea, even on cold, wet, windy March days, so I had to take a little detour via the beach. After getting my fill of salty air I headed over the road to the Brighton Centre.

I was really excited to browse the 160 stalls, particularly the foodie ones. I tried a lot of products, and of course bought quite a few as well. Some of these were things I already know and love, like Hoots multigrain snacks and Ombar raw chocolate. My top discovery of the day was the crumbly vanilla fudge from Scoff – as I gushingly told the woman on the stall I’ve been craving fudge pretty much constantly since I went vegan, and this really hit the spot.

After my first visit to the stalls I had a good sit down in the cinema and watched a couple of short films from Animal Aid, one about animal testing and another about intensively-reared chickens. They were both interesting, if a little hard-hitting, and served as a good reminder of why we were all there.

After a second trip around the main exhibition and a bit more shopping, it was time to go to the food village for a spot of lunch. I’m so SO bad at deciding what to eat when I’m given a choice, and here I was with an overwhelming amount of choice that vegans aren’t normally used to. I think I changed my mind no fewer than six times before I went for some pad thai with vegetables and tofu, which was delicious.

Then it was time to head upstairs to the UK’s first ever Vegan Comedy Festival. For me, stand-up comedy and beer go hand-in-hand, so I got a pint of bitter from Pitfield Brewery. The comedy was brilliant. The comedians didn’t talk exclusively about being vegan, but I think a comedian who shares your interests and values is bound to be funnier than one you have nothing in common with. My favourite was Jake Yapp, who talked about the different types of vegans (apparently I’m a level 4 because I love tempeh), sang a song that made me cry, and did a live version of this:

I had just enough time after this to head back down and pick up a couple of refrigerated items before the stalls closed at 5pm. I was limited by the size of my cool bag, but I bought some Dee’s sausages (gorgeous, but not the easiest to cook), and some vegan coleslaw and egg mayo from Badger’s.

I had a fantastic time, as I knew I would. I’m moving house this week, so I only really had time to go for the day. I wish I had been able to go for the whole weekend; I don’t feel I got to do everything I wanted and I would have loved to have seen more of the comedy festival. Also, I’d never been to Brighton before, and I’d like to see and experience it properly. Next time I’m definitely going to make a long weekend of it.

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When I get back from work late, or tired, or both, it’s hard sometimes to motivate myself to cook something proper for dinner. I often find myself eating freezer junk or having a takeaway, when I’d much rather have something healthy. Here’s my solution. Pasta, whatever random ingredient I find in the fridge, and a quick and easy sauce. These three sauces take about a minute each to prepare, and can just be heated in the pan the pasta was cooked in, meaning no extra washing up. I can be slobbing in front of the TV in my tracky bottoms with some dinner within 20 minutes of getting home.

1 small clove of garlic, mashed to a fine paste with a generous pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients together in a little bowl or cup. Leave to stand for a few minutes while you cook some pasta and veggies. It might be a little lumpy at first but it will become smooth. Mix with the cooked pasta and veggies and serve.

Cook some pasta, and drain, reserving some of the liquid. Leave the pasta in the colander and put the pan back on the hob over a high heat. Throw in the cherry tomatoes, a splash of the pasta water, and the harissa paste. Let it bubble for a minute or so, until the tomatoes are beginning to break down and the harissa paste is mixed in with the water. Return the pasta and any other ingredients back to the pan, stir until everything is well coated with the sauce, and serve.

This recipe also works well with chipotle paste instead of harissa.

Creamy mustard sauce (serves 1):

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes

Half a tablespoon of plain flour

75ml of cold water

A pinch of salt

Up to 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard

Before cooking the pasta, mix together the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl or cup. Leave to one side while you cook the pasta, so the flour can start absorbing the water. Cook some pasta, and drain. Leave the pasta in the colander and put the pan back on the hob over a high heat. Pour the sauce into the pan and stir it until it comes to the boil and thickens – this should take less than a minute. Return the pasta and any other ingredients back to the pan, stir until everything is well coated with the sauce, and serve.

You would never guess that the stuff that makes Indian pakoras so cripsy and holds together felafel would also make a creamy and satisfying scrambled egg substitute. The secret is to let the batter sit for a few hours. Not only does that sort out any lumps, but the flour particles soak up the water giving it a smoother consistency and texture. In my pre-vegan days I used to like my scrambled eggs quite soft, preferably with some tasty veggies added. I think this recipe is very reminiscent of that, but without being heavy or greasy and, more importantly, without any animal involvement.

Optional: a bit of anything else you fancy, e.g. a chopped tomato, some courgette, or a couple of blocks of thawed frozen spinach.

Tea and toast, to serve.

Mix the chickpea flour and water together. Leave for at least two hours, preferably overnight. Don’t worry about any lumps, they will disappear on their own. The batter will probably end up quite thick, particularly at the bottom. Give it a quick stir before continuing.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. If using something that needs to be cooked, e.g. tomato or courgette, fry this quickly first. Otherwise, mix whatever veg you’re adding into the batter.

Pour the batter into the frying pan. As it sets underneath and around the edges, turn with a spatula, as you would making scrambled eggs. Continue until it reaches the desired consistency, this will only take a couple of minutes at the most. Serve on toast with a nice cup of tea.

Poor old quiche doesn’t have the best reputation, people either think that (a) it’s a bit fiddly to make, or that (b) it belongs in the seventies along with vol-au-vents and cheese and pineapple on sticks. If either of these applies to you then please cast aside your doubts and give it a go! Vegan quiche is gorgeous, it’s a good balance of healthy (tofu and veggies!) and naughty (pastry!), and it works both hot or cold. Also, it’s not difficult or time-consuming to make at all. The most active part of the recipe is making the pastry, which takes, what… three minutes? You can do that, right?!

Roasting the broccoli in this recipe was a last-minute brainwave. I was planning to microwave it, then I read an inspiring article written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz where she said roasting makes everything taste delicious (you can read the full article here for this and five other pearls of wisdom). I’m so glad I did, roasting the broccoli deepens the flavour and contributes to the slight cheesiness. Ground almonds add a little extra firmness to the filling, and increase the cheesy quality of the flavour profile.

Recipe (serves 4)

For the pastry:

50g margarine (check it is suitable for pastry)

100g flour (white or wholemeal, this time I used half wholemeal spelt and half plain flour)

Pinch of salt

For the filling:

200g broccoli, chopped into small bite-sized pieces

1 tb vegetable oil

A 396g block of firm tofu, drained but not pressed

Quarter of a cup (or 4 tb) nutritional yeast flakes

Quarter of a cup ground almonds

One clove of garlic, mashed to a fine paste

1 ts salt

Plenty of black pepper

For the pastry, rub the margarine into the flour and salt. Continue mixing with your hands, adding some cold water a splash at a time until it comes together in a ball. Put it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.

Lightly grease a 20cm / 8 inch quiche dish. Roll out the pastry and use it to line the dish. Trim the edges but not too much, be aware that the pastry will shrink a little bit when you cook it. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, then blind bake it for 15 minutes at 200˚C. You want the pastry to be starting to go dry and golden, but not brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Put the chopped broccoli in a small roasting tin with the oil and roast for about 15 minutes, until softened and starting to brown round the edges. Crumble the tofu into a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well with a fork.

When the broccoli is cooked, remove it from the oven. Chop about half of it even more finely, then add all of the broccoli to the tofu mixture. Carefully tip this into the pastry case, pressing it into the corners and smoothing out the top. Return to the oven for another 30 minutes, until it is heated through and golden brown on top. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving, it will be much easier to get out of the dish. Serve hot or cold.